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SCG Denver: 11th place with Storm

Having done well at the last SCG Denver and wanting to do even better this time, I was feeling a bit of stress before the tournament. Add to that the fact that I was planning on missing the Denver Century to play in a magic event (talk about opposite spectrums of the fitness scale!) and I was questioning my decision to play at all. Luckily, I had some great friends to test with beforehand. I knew I wanted to play combo, because, well, not many people know how to interact with the deck. People who thought Mental Misstep and Hymn to Tourach were the end of combo had another thing coming! Bryant Cook had sent me his list prior to GP Providence, and I was very tempted to play it, however, anticipating a slower field (due to Mental Misstep) with more control/fish, I decided to go with a more stable manabase. This was a good choice, as I played mostly slow decks with wastelands hoping to mana screw me. I decided to play Ari Lax’s exact 75. Why change a good thing? To anyone wanting to play Storm, I’d suggest starting with Lax Storm or TES. Both decks are very elegant and extremely well designed. If you are not a combo master, these decks are the starting points. After much testing, I was set with the list. My only concern was the merfolk matchup. I was about 50-50, but I had no idea how to side. I eventually settled with -1 Cabal ritual, -1 Preordain, +2 Thoughtseize.

And for those who care, here’s the detailed report:
Round 1: Aggro Loam
Game 1: He leads with mox diamond, taiga into a thoughtseize. He takes a ritual. I have absolutely no idea what he is playing. I do my thing and ponder. He proceeds to thoughtseize 2 more times this game. As soon as he casts a countryside crusher, I put him on agro loam. I duress away a burning wish, fetch mad basics and eventually get there with an ill-gotten gains.
Game 2: I mull to six and keep: lotus petal, lion’s eye, rit,rit, infernal tutor, preordain. It’s a calculated risk for sure, but I wanted to get my turn 1 out of the way. He plays mox diamond, birds of paradise pass. I win. He shows me his hand of double cabal therapy. Looks like I got away with one!

Round 2: Deadguy Ale
Game 1: This is a war of attrition, but he doesn’t have any pressure. He thoughtseizes me 3 times and drops bitterblossom and bob. This actually helps me out, as I’m sandbagging an ill-gotten gains on top with an LED in play. When I hit 4 lands, it’s GG.
Game 2: He’s a really nice guy, but seems extremely annoyed that he lost to ANT. I can’t blame him. I board in Bobs. He duresses turn 1, but instead of taking a lotus petal (I had turn 1 Bob), he takes brainstorm. I resolve Bob, duress his only threat, and win easily from there.
Round 3: THE SCOTTY LIMOGES with ANT
Scott is a very close friend and has not played magic in 2+ years. He called me on a whim last weekend and told me he wanted to play in the SCG Legacy Open. For anyone questioning his plays, keep in mind, this dude won a WATERBURY, and T8ed a 100+ man tourney in his first try in 2+ years.
Game 1: He keeps a loose hand, having never played the mirror. I punish him for it.
Game 2: I resolve a Bob, but have no action. Scotty, the Lucksack, rips hotness off the top and combos me out.
Game 3: He mulls to 6, and I lead with ritual, bob, duress. Bob reveals 2 thoughtseizes in the subsequent turns and I attack him to death.

Round 4: Nick Spagnolo with U/W Control
I have to say, it was an absolute pleasure playing Nick. I had this image of pro players being real douchey, but Nick was a class act. Nothing but props to Nick.
Game 1: He resolves a bunch of draw spells, but when I duress and see crucible + FoW as his only relevant action, I win easily.
Game 2: I punt horribly, as I didn’t acknowledge the interaction of Karakas + Clique. He cliques my tendrils and I’m left with a hand of no bidness.
Game 3: I don’t think I resolved a relevant spell the entire game. Jace advantage is a bitch!

Round 5: Battle of Wits
Game 1: I win on turn 5 after 2 duress effects
Game 2: I punt horribly, getting overly excited (he WAS playing a 300+ card deck). I stop my loop and pass intending to win next turn. He casts enlightened tutor for painter’s servant EOT with a grindstone in play. FML.
Game 3: He has a pretty good hand with counter magic + hexmage/dark depths. I attempt to go off at 13 life from ad naus with no mana floating (couldn’t IGG, since he had mana to make a dude and StP it). All I needed was a lotus petal, but the deck didn’t produce. You win some, you lose some.
I’m on super tilt right now and almost drop. Until I remind myself that one of my best friends has a chance to T8. I regain composure and play out the rest of my matchups (also, my opponent was super cool and encouraged me to play on for cash).

Round 6: Team America
Game 1: I believe he makes a play error in countering my hell-bent infernal tutor. I rip gas, while he rips creatures.
Game 2: I make a SAVAGE mistake by boarding out my IGG. I have turn 1 Bob, and all is well, until he hymns me and takes my tendrils. I try to get there with 3 Bobs, but when he resolves Goyf + Stalker, I lose.
Game 3: I duress and see his hand is 3 lands, 2 Goyf, and a Mental Misstep. On turn 3, I hardcast Ad Naus and get there.

Round 7: Elf Combo
Game 1: He plays turn 1 llanowar Elves. I win on my turn 3.
Game 2: He actually tells me he has no SB. I feel awful. He cuts me into the nuts, and I go off turn 1.

Some thoughts on the deck:
• The 60 is about as good as it gets. I’m not quite sure why people think Grim Tutor is awkward. That card is absolutely insane. It gives the deck a higher threat density and is an absolute bomb against control. I admit I was skeptical while goldfishing with the card, but play some real games and you’ll see the card is insane.
• Be very careful with the new UW decks. Game 1 is basically a bye, but when they bring in stifles/meddling mage/CLIQUE (this especially), the matchup turns significantly worse. Cliquing away a lethal tendrils while a ritual is on the stack is about the worst feeling ever.
• It’s a mistake not playing 2 virtual copies of tendrils (either 2 tendrils or tendrils + IGG) vs. anything with Hymn to Tourach. Maybe I’m not shuffling enough, but I don’t want to auto lose because I boarded wrong. If you board out IGG, the second tendrils needs to come in.
• Advice for the beginners: This deck is extremely powerful and requires near flawless play to be successful. This sounds cliché, but your toughest opponent is yourself.

Finally, some props are in order:
• First, and foremost, Starcitygames.com for hosting an AWESOME tournament in the Mile High City. Despite low attendance, I hope you consider coming back next year.
• The entire AFC crew. WOW did we put up a showing (Brandon winning the Standard Open, Nate T8ing, 3 other players T16ing).
• THE MOTHERF**KING SCOTT LIMOGES aka “Lime Juice.” I called it, and you did it. Way to show everyone who’s boss
• Tom Ma, for being such a BAWS and taking it down
• ALL my opponents for being awesome
• AJ Hill for being the best playtesting partner a dude can ask for, and also supplying everyone with a deck
• Brett Piazza, for winning the second draft open. What a sicko.

No slops, because honestly, this was one of the best weekends of magic ever!

Re: SCG Denver: 11th place with Storm

Re: SCG Denver: 11th place with Storm

Even though attendance was a bit disappointing, SCG considers it important to maintain a presence, so they said they'll definitely be back next year.

Also, they absolutely cleaned up on buying. I saw them buy $10K in trade worth of people's binders just while I was waiting to sell them judge foils.

“It's possible. But it involves... {checks archives} Nature's Revolt, Opalescence, two Unstable Shapeshifters (one of which started as a Doppelganger), a Tide, an animated land, a creature with Fading, a Silver Wyvern, some way to get a creature into play in response to stuff, some way to get a land into play in response to stuff (a different land from the animated land), and one heck of a Rube Goldberg timing diagram.”
-David DeLaney